


Prismatic Descent

by evilerrobinhood



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: (madoka magica), :(, Angst, Fire, M/M, More tags to be added, Rating May Change, ai attempts to cook, magical girl au, pretty much all the bg characters died
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:01:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28011312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evilerrobinhood/pseuds/evilerrobinhood
Summary: If Yusaku can have a better future, then even that is fine.
Relationships: Ai | Ignis/Fujiki Yuusaku
Kudos: 7





	1. Everyday Azure

Ai looked out on the cityscape, the soft blue sky was laced with towering buildings as the afternoon commute rushed past below. It was almost enough to make him ignore the little white shit on the windowsill. Kyubei seemingly loves to perch on areas with a good view, if he didn’t know better Ai would think it was taunting him. But if it had something as understandable as malice that would make hating it far easier. Ai did hate the thing, as much as you can hate something you don’t truly understand. 

But that wasn’t the meat of the issue, he couldn’t stop Kyubei. But if he could contract like Yusaku did, he might be able to save one person, Yusaku. Ai knew what happens to anyone who contracts, but Kyubei might let him make one exception. If he didn’t do anything short of trying to sell off his soul for Yusaku, he couldn’t live with himself. 

If it did go down, he wouldn’t be living with himself for that long, but Yusaku could live on without him. It was a terrible idea, obviously, he knew that. But a bad idea is better than no idea, at least right now. 

“Kyubei, I want to make a contract.” Despite being a purple blob, he did his best to be strong and confident. It was questionably successful, and didn’t effect the thing at all. Kyubei simply tilted it’s head, which would be cute if it didn’t murder people. 

“But you don’t have a body, or a soul. It would be impossible.” 

Shit. Shit shit shit, Ai really should have seen that coming. He wasn’t exactly a human, but he still thought it would work. He could get a body, but he doesn’t really have the time to get the money for that “legitimately,” and an A.I uprising was already a hot button topic, Ai committing a crime was  _ not _ going to help. He could ask Yusaku, but he probably doesn’t have that sort of money, and the reasons he wants it for was probably not going to go down well. 

Yusaku, being far less of an idiot, would not let Ai do something like that. But he couldn’t really hide a body, let alone keeping a soul gem on him. If he got suspicious he could just forcibly separate him from the ring, he would get found out after at most a week. And keeping a secret as big as a faustian bargain was just cruel, he would have to tell Yusaku about it. 

Now he had a few moments to contemplate, and the whole “death and fate” topic was really starting to wear on Ai’s circuits, so he decided to yearn instead. Yusaku was, undoubtedly, the most cute person he has ever seen. The best part of Yusaku was probably the eyelashes, although it was a close competition with everything else. 

The eyes they delicately framed were stunning, an alluring emerald. He could stare into them for days if Yusaku didn’t have to close them so often. He was thin, almost worryingly. Ai really thinks he should eat more, and eat better. When he had a body he would absolutely hug Yusaku. Maybe even _ kiss _ him! An A.I can dream, at least. 

He already managed to hold Yusaku’s hand, but he was tragically far too small and semi-incorporeal to properly hug him. His bigger form was hard to maintain and to quote Yusaku “creepy.” A cruel remark, he was almost as stunning as Yusaku in  _ all  _ his forms,but he could see where it came from. He didn’t seem to mind his affection in smaller form, though. Thank god for that, Ai would probably catch fire if he couldn’t get in some hugs. 

Ai really wished he could do something more for Yusaku. He really had a lot on his plate, between the magic and the normal strain of just being a person. Sometimes Ai would consider himself lucky, he doesn’t have to worry about school or work, but it got really boring really fast. And lonely, very lonely. Geeze, Yusaku goes out and risks his life every night to get to live a little longer and he was complaining about being bored. 

  
  
  


He used to hang out with the other ignises, but that wasn’t exactly an option anymore. A lot of people that they liked died recently. Kusanagi, god he wished neither of them had to see that. He’s honest to god considered deleting the memory, but the idea was as repulsive as the memory itself. And deleting something like that would be unwise, memories are cross-referenced in so much code, messing with a few could bring the whole system down. 

He does wish he knew what happened to Earth and Aqua. He had seen all the others die, one way or another, but they had just vanished. They’re probably dead, but no one would really know. If the device he was running off was suddenly destroyed, it could do all sorts of harm, and Labyrinths already distort things. 

Ai couldn’t connect to the network while he was in a Labyrinth. It’s kind of odd, very few places on Earth could cut them off, but it would probably be weirder if he could, honestly. It’s not like witches are terribly concerned about the convenience of their prey. Can a witch eat an A.I? 

Probably not, but you really could never know with that sort of thing. It’s not like they went out of their way to study the habits of witches. Ai began to hop around using the additions he made to one of Yusaku’s phones, although it was practically unusable to anyone other than Ai at that point. Unfortunately he miscalculated a little and ended up upside down in the ceiling. 

At his most graceful moment, Yusaku arrived home. He put down his school bag, scanned the room for Ai, and sighed when he saw he was stuck in the ceiling _ again. _ “Hey a little help up here?” Yusaku had already left to get the stool. This was not going to make the “convince Yusaku to buy him a body,” plan to work very well. 

Once he was back on the ground, Ai began tactic one, seduction. “You know, we could cuddle so much better if I had a body,” Yusaku looked utterly befuddled, and simply responded with “Ai I’m not killing someone for cuddles.” Yusaku was not entirely sure why Ai wanted a human body, but it wasn’t entirely out of the realm of his antics. Hopefully it was some weird failed joke. 

“I mean a SOLtis!” Oh, that made slightly more sense. Although Yusaku would probably also have to kill someone to fund that endevor. But why in god’s name did he want a SOLtis? Sure Ai was rather affectionate, but that seems a little much, even for him. But he could understand why he would want to be closer, it’s not like they have much time left, realistically speaking. “...I’ll look into it.” “Wait really?!” Ai was not expecting that to work, like at all. 

SOLtises varied from expensive to heart-stoppingly expensive. Most were meant for commercial or secretarial work, although most had full articulation. They also included basic solid vision, weirdly enough. He could see the use for it, but that has to drive up prices. He had some money stashed away, and it’s not like he was going to college. He should probably ask what Ai was planning to do, so he can properly prepare for the ensuing chaos. 

“What shenanigans are you planning?” Ah, Ai was definitely going to have to explain himself at some point, might as well rip the bandaid off. “I’m going to contract.” Yusaku’s mind reeled at that for a moment. Like a legal- not that kind, he’s not going to? Yusaku couldn’t even understand what could push him to make such a shitty bargain. He knows more than anyone how they end, what would possibly push him to throw away his life like that? 

Contracting was one of the worst decisions he made. Yusaku doesn’t regret it, but he naturally had severe reservations about letting Ai contract. But if he just went and did it anyway, he would be a lot more effective in a SOLtis, sending him out as his Ignis form would be a death sentence. He wanted to know what Ai would wish for, but it really wasn’t his business. 

Eventually Yusaku settled on a sigh. “You better not wish for cake.” “Of course not!” Yusaku would probably kill him if he wished for something that frivolous, as he should. But on the plus side- hugs! Actual, real hugs! Yusaku isn’t going to see his sides for the next week. “You’re the best!” He hugged Yusaku’s arm for practice. 

After Yusaku made one of the most questionable purchases of his life, he went on to the slightly absurd amount of homework he was assigned. Ai always found the school system a bit odd, but couldn’t really figure out why. He wished Yusaku had a bit more time though, but then again most students didn’t have to go hunt witches, a task that takes an hour or so on a good day. 

Homework, combat, and the bathroom were the three times Ai was not allowed to smother Yusaku in affection. All other times were begrudgingly fair game, despite Yusaku’s grumbling. Talking about affection, Ai needs to scheme up what he was going to do. 

After all, Yusaku was doing him a huge favor. He had to pay him back, but how? The hugs were obvious, but he already did that. He was so thin, Yusaku ate like shit, he should make him some food! The secret ingredient will be vegetables- the love will not be a secret. Ai couldn’t hide all his love, anyways. God he was obvious Yusaku couldn’t have not taken the hint. Yet he hasn’t really mentioned it, so maybe he just was that dense. Yusaku was impressive in all his other attributes.

Yusaku was exhausted, so he just grabbed one of his spare grief seeds. If he uses one now it could cause problems later, but if he walked into a labyrinth half asleep he probably wouldn’t come out. He then promptly collapsed onto bed and fell asleep remarkably fast. 

…

God why did he schedule that delivery so early? At roughly 6 am, Yusaku had changed his hierarchy of terrible decisions. “Setting a delivery for an hour before he typically wakes up,” was now above “selling off his soul and lifespan to get revenge.” Now he needs to go sign a contract, one that’s hopefully less faustian than his track record. 

Ai was utterly enthused to see the SOLtis, for a variety of reasons. Yusaku had to quickly sprint out of the house, as the paperwork took oddly long. One would think that technology would solve that issue, but after a few to many data leaks, they put the breaks to that one. 

He would have to make his body as attractive as possible. Yusaku was going to swoon at his feet! First things first, he was to achieve hight. He’s been short for too long! His hair would have to be fabulous, it should be long as well. It would give him a lot more options for styling, and he could just tie it up if it caused an issue. And he knew Yusaku’s tastes, as hard as he tried to hide his browsing history. 

The face was hardest, he had to be careful, as it was easy to fall into the uncanny valley. Eyes too large, nose off center, nose too centered, jaw too soft, a myriad of small errors that would make him very very creepy. He didn’t want to creep out Yusaku, why was the human face so particular?

After he got the face solidly good enough, he should probably wear clothes. As much as Yusaku’s reaction to him trapezing in the nude would be absolutely hilarious, but he did just commit highway robbery, and probably should be nice for a bit. But he wasn’t exactly sure what clothes he would want to wear. He sort of had a vague idea involving a lot of capes, but it would definitely come off a little evil, which is a bad look for a sentient A.I. 

A hoodie or something would work, he guesses. It would be cosy, and from experience great for hugs. It would also be pretty warm, perfect for cold weather. Ai could turn off his temperature sensors if the weather got too unruly, but Yusaku lacked such luxury. Ai was running pretty warm, probably a bit warmer than SOLtises should, but it probably wouldn’t break anything. 

Now he had to go sell his soul. He had to word his wish carefully, Kyubei wouldn’t try to twist his wish, but he wasn’t exactly good at understanding. Considering how vague Yusaku’s wish for revenge was, it was impressive it went down so well. Would he even grant Ai’s wish? He had to, if he wouldn’t, he would make a different wish to be able to protect him.

Kyubei had stuck around for surprisingly long, he probably predicted Ai would have gotten this idea. He usually was out and about, probably luring some other people into this terrible contract, but right now he was on the floor. It never really struck him that Kyubei was small, it made sense, Yusaku towered over them both, but now that he was from a higher vantage point he can see why someone might think it was cute. 

Resisting the urge to kick the thing, he gets Kyubei’s attention. It looks at him, and the eyes are far less disconcerting from high up. No wonder Yusaku didn’t question it, unable to see all the details that made the thing look so uncanny. If he had, maybe they would still have a future. But what was done was done. 

“I want to make a wish.” Ai paused a moment, feeling his skin melt from Kyubei’s stare. “I want to save Yusaku from the fate of a magical boy.” Kyubei took a moment to consider, like a human doing math. Eventually it spoke, “I believe that can be done, is that your wish?” Ai shook his head, although his head was already swimming in apprehension. 

All things considered, Ai expected it to hurt more. It was more,... dizzying? Like his field of vision went off-center. But it was all very brief, and pretty soon he was left with a soul gem as Kyubei gracefully jumped out of the window and scampered off to who knows where. The gem was a dark purple, sparkling lavender in the middle. Ai should probably spend a moment contemplating what the hell he just did, but he had more important things to do. 

Like cooking a warm meal for Yusaku, it was the least he could do. Sure Ai didn’t actually know how to cook, and didn’t have any money, but he’d figure it out. Yusaku had what was probably a stove, and a minifridge, it should be fine. He has some ramen, sad ketchup, and what seems to be some sort of vegetable. He could work with this. 

Ai really should have googled what to do if something catches on fire, but he was rather preoccupied. Yusaku was chosen the moment when the counter and probably Ai was on fire to come back home, which was embarrassing to say the least. 

Yusaku was reminded of an emotion he had not experienced for a long time, pure, unadulterated panic. Now SOLtec was not famous for their quality control, but he was not expecting a SOLtis to catch fire. But considering how much smoke was coming out of his apartment, clearly something went wrong. 

Yusaku was quickly approaching the apartment, soul gem in hand. Ai panicked, not wanting him to get burnt, and promptly fell out of the apartment, taking Yusaku down with him. Thankfully, Yusaku didn’t hit anything important, and thank god did not fall on the stairs. Ai was not currently aflame, although Yusaku’s worry would imply that he was. 

“How did you even do this?” Yusaku grappled at Ai’s arm, healing it with his magic. Ai thought he should really be using his own magic to mend his wound, but the whole thing went too fast for Ai to protest. The burnt material unfurled on itself and covered the exposed metal, as it returned back to its previous shine, the slight warping from heat undone. 


	2. Aqua Intermittion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah it's been a week to a month from the first chapter like I meant and is definitely not march Σ(°△°|||)︴Really though, I definitely will make sure to update as regularly as possible! The next chapter should be fairly soon ( ^▽^)ψ__

After Ai’s injury was handled, Yusaku properly processed that his house was on fire.

”...You called the fire department, right?” Ai had in fact, not called the fire department, however saying that seemed rather dangerous for him at the moment. Apparently Yusaku was fluent in silence, however, and proceeded to dial the fire department.

“Ai, how did you do this?” Yusaku was rather annoyed, but more concerned. “I was trying to cook!” “But you don’t need to eat-” Yusaku’s brain kicked in mid sentence.“...Ai, I appreciate the gesture, but learn to cook somewhere less flammable.” Ai wanted to argue for a moment, but remembered that he almost burnt down a house trying to make glorified ramen. 

Although the fire damage was minimal, the food in the house was totally gone. Although the execution of Ai’s plan was imperfect, to say the least, the concept was sweet. There was an affordable restaurant somewhere around them, and his “kitchen” was probably out of service at the moment. Yusaku wordlessly got up, knowing that Ai would follow him if he wanted and getting him not to would be an exercise in futility. There was worse company to be in, at least. 

Ai had kept up his typical enthusiasm, which would have been fine if he also wasn’t obviously a SOLtis. At this rate either Yusaku was going to be labeled a social reject who programmed a robot for deviant purposes, or someone would catch on to Ai being sentient, which is unimaginably illegal. He could generally accept Ai’s shenanigans, but the concept of Ai getting confiscated, and after that something  _ far _ worse, left a hallowing bitterness. 

“You need a scarf or something.” Ai turned his head in playful confusion. “When did you become a fashionista?” “When you became a felony.” Ai had rarely had to think about the law, being rather discreet while being about 3 inches tall, but now it would be something he had to recon with a bit more often. The alternatives were utterly unacceptable, so Ai quickly materialized a scarf to hide his SOLtis marker when no one was looking. 

Thankfully Ai seemed to blend in to the crowd without attracting any trouble as they walked to the train station, as the cafe was a bit out of the way. Usually Yusaku’s diet was just terrible, so Ai was hoping that he would at least order a vegetable. For someone who couldn’t eat, he was awfully excited, almost shaking the whole train with him. To Yusaku’s relief, the train was empty.

_ Was Ai beeping? _ Small beeps filled with small, almost harmonic beeps. As they continued it seemed to form itself into a tune of some sort. Beeps overlay on eachother, making an unnaturally detailed sound. If it weren’t so detailed he would have thought that Ai had simply made it up on the spot, it had a breezy, casual feel. Maybe it was from some show or game? 

Yusaku was about to ask, but he had suddenly stopped and looked at the window. The scenery was but an uncertain blur to Yusaku, so it was a total mystery to what had caught his eye. He wasn’t looking up or down, he was aimed straight at the window, utterly entranced by something or other. “That’s a good boy!” Ai began to coo at a dog that Yusaku couldn’t see. Yusaku turned his head in confusion. 

“We just went past a dog park!” “How did you see that?” Trains went at a speed that made seeing the scenery near impossible, you could pay more for the luxury of going slow enough to actually see. “You need to improve your eyes.” Yusaku blinked at him, unsure how Ai would expect him to do that. 

“Anyway, what were you humming?” Ai stopped for a moment, having already archived the memory and having to dig it back out. “One of Aqua’s tunes, more or less.” Ai shrugged, it was fairly similar to one of them, save some alterations. Mainly the “lyrics”, sweet nothings embedded in the ignis language. But as the train blared out that they had reached their stop, the topic had dissolved into the lukewarm air. 

A cafe, simply marked as such with no other branding, was nestled between a bookstore and a salon, buzzed with the light traffic of the mid afternoon. It wasn’t any sort of hotspot, serving mediocre food for an acceptable price, one of many in Den City. However Ai was utterly entranced by the sight, looking about as if he was at some sort of historic site or stunning sight. 

“I didn’t know Marigolds were still used in landscaping!” Ai had then gone off on a rant about the history of the flower, including their sudden decline in popular favor around 2056. The matter was far beyond Yusaku’s realm of knowledge, but Ai’s clear enthusiasm for the topic charmed Yusaku anyway. 

“You haven’t said anything about my new body yet.” Admittedly, Yusaku had not examined it very much, having been rather preoccupied. Ai’s choice of outfit was oddly plain, although he swore it had gotten more glittery since he first saw it, and his hair was quite a contrast. Eventually he settled on “Your hair is gaudy.” 

Ai feigned offense with an exaggerated gasp. “And I go basing it off the most handsome person I know, and he calls it gaudy!” “Reall-” Yusaku cut himself off when he understood the implications of the sentence, and felt himself heat up with embarrassment. “Shut up.” Ai simply gave him a skeptical grin, and Yusaku has never been happier to see a waiter. 

Yusaku ordered something, his mouth on autopilot, as his mind reeled. ‘Did Ai actually just call him handsome?” Ai obviously had a thing for him, even as he had gone through some great efforts to not notice. But then again it could just be Ai teasing him, no it was definitely that. Either way, it was a tragedy waiting to happen, so it was best to not do anything. 

He had made an effort to not address it, not even to himself, skimming over both of their feelings. Eventually Ai would be able to get over him, he would move on and he wouldn’t. Ai was going to die. Somehow he hadn’t processed it, not really. Things had just changed, and it should change that as well. 

But that would be easier said than done, as Ai had plunged into another one of his totally platonic weird staring fits, and Yusaku could feel himself grow warmer. The sun highlighted the Marigolds with light that had just started to turn the golden hue of sunset, highlighting the golden ends of Ai’s hair that he had just noticed. A few people buzzed in the everyday weather, in an everyday scene that may have, should have gone on forever. 

But it couldn’t. The pasta arrived to Yusaku’s muted surprise, having now just processed that he indeed ordered pasta. It was a decent plate, and made a good distraction as Ai began speaking about something or other. A soap opera, some TV show that had entranced him. One of his favorite characters had been killed, and although Yusaku had no idea where to begin making this a two sided conversation, his rambling had somehow gotten less annoying as the months went on. 

“Ai, are you okay with fighting a witch after this?” “So then Kathy got-” Ai trailed off as Yusaku sent the conversation off the rails. Once he had processed the question he simply shook his head. “Of course!” Ai exclaimed with a bit too much energy. 

**Author's Note:**

> Both Madoka Magica and the Yu-Gi-Oh anime were super important to my tastes, so it's only fitting I frankenstien them together.


End file.
